Television tower



April 3, 1956 R. v. BAILEY TELEVISION TOWER 3 SheetsSheet Filed June 6, 1952 q INVENTOR.

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2 a M 7 F q T 4. rr \n E .1 715v NJ N W 5 e 3 Q 2 4 4 i s p q 4 m q q w w April 3, 1956 R. v. BAILEY 2,740,504

TELEVISION TOWER Filed June 6, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

April 3-, 1956 R. v. BAILEY 2,740,504

TELEVISION TOWER Filed June 6, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 7a INVENTOR.

ATTORIYEYJ in accordance with the present invention, portions of-said U d States Patent Town "Rex Vinn Corsicangi'lex,

smitten use *6, are, sea-arm. $2,031

retain. or 1891-14 Ihisiinv no'nire ates to 'taw'er particularly adapted jorIsupporting, at its up er end, a television antenna, and gadapt'ed,lb y 'as'ener a telescopic, sectional construction thereofito be'extende'dfto selected heights. 1 V

ninian fess, television receptionis poor, wheni'an antenna isgmenmed atits usuarldw elevation upon the ro o f of a house or ."similar structure. The inadequate ,reception, in, connection,,usually derives from the 'i 'act thattlie receiving antenna is located at 'a substantial distance from the transmitting station.

-Accordingly, th'emain object of the, present invention is to provide 'awtower of a sectionahtelescopic construe ti in 'that Jean be readily, installed and ex end d to a jd'esired hei t for'slupporting a television antenna'at a sufliciient height above a ground sur race'to assure'clear "and sharp rf :eption of television broadcasts. V

, inore articular object is tofprovide a tower of the liaracter re erred to which, though capable, offextension I a substantial len'g'th,c'an'yet be manufactured at cemect 'of importance is; to provide a ftow er H v hic h isso constructedas to perrnit' its erecnr-i t me an w h ii li f il t Yet nd e 0 e t ti rta s 9 P 'Q id a tower ofthe 'type'stated which can be cornpl'etely'telenscoped t h e n being shipped to a 'locationjat which it istqf be, ected, fand which, further, is adapted for the ach'ment of "a television antenna thereto barbie erectlon .c, t r v rev Still, another object of, i'rn'portance "is to provide a-telev 'on'tovveg which will not only'be of asectionahtelerigiorin'ation, but which M v 1 v H 4 ide d rwith a' hinged base, one fp tion of, which c'an e'b oltedto a concreteblo'clti'or'tliellike, e ing' swingableupon' said hinged portion rormovemem thereof to'an upright position. w

A .,still. turther, object of importance is to provide a le isi'on'tower c5nstructionwhichis so designed s to theseveralisectiensitherfeof tolbe raisedfto X esired heights, by rn ans', of 'a winch mechanism associated with ,ttliei' respective sections and operable from' the ground '5 rfacer ,w

still ane ther object "of irnportar'ice is tol'provide, a

I televisiontower construction wherein the several 'se ctions,

after beingelevated as desired, can be fixedly connectied tg-one, another by means of novelly designedsupporting plates readilyiadaptedto be interposed between the raised sections'and bolted thereto in a manner eflective "to PIQ d afti isi du le S tu Other objects will appear from the following de sc ripsi n. the c a ga d here m I WI Q-QQH ,Qr wi t in. which i efi r r eish as a desi 'like;p arts throughout the several views, and wherein;

Figure 1 is an elevation of a television tower fqrrned 2,740,504 Patented Apr. 3, 1956 :7 'Figure 6 is an enlarged,jfragrnentary,perspective,vie w showing the upper end portiion oi thetop towersection; Figure 7 is an enlarged transverse sectional view, taken through the tower below the upper end ofthe lowermost section, and illustrating asupport plate utilized to fixedly connect lapping sections of the tower after erection of thesarne; I I. H a v;

, Figure 8 is asectional vievv on line 8-8; of Figure 7; Figure 9 "is a greatly enlargedfdetail sectional view on line 99 ofFig'ure 7, illu'stra't'ing a clamp means for securing the support plate to one of thesecti ons; and Figure 10 is "a 'diagr'arnrnatic View ofthe extended tower, illustrating the Lcable and Winch arrangement embodied in theinvention. i p d p Referring to the drawings'in detail, the t'o'wer'for rned in accordance iwit'h the present invention .cornp risesa plurality of telescjo'ping sections ihc'luding abotto'm s'eclion I2,,"one,or ntoreintrniediat cti ons 1 1, and atop section "1 6. In the illustrated 'e'rnbddir'nent of the invention one intermediate section 14' h'as been illustrated. vl-IoWet/er, it will be unders "d t'h'at. thisfshowing -is provided purely byway o'f'exa pIe,"a 'nd more than one jinte rniediate section coill'dbe utilized, if desired. Further,

it is believed worthy fofjnot'e at this 'tirnefthatthe 'seve'ral 'seetien can be of any i's'ele cgted"lengths this depending, 'of' course, upon the particular are'ain which the towers w'ould'be used.

CQnSidering first the cidiis truction an, bottom "section'lZ,said section includes a base that comprises a jfixed base plate and a hinged base plate. The fixed baseplate has been designated by the referencenurneral '20, and as willibe noted fromjFigure 2, is of rectangular construction, said base plate 20 being adapted to be' anchored imrn ovably to a concrete block "22 embedded in the ground surface G,

which are threaded downwardly against thev upper surface of the base plate, for the purpose of immovably anchoring the base plate to the concrete block 22.

Integral or' otherwise m'ade rigid 'with one longitudinal edge of the base plate 20 are spaced hinge leaves 28, said leaves alternating with and being aligned. coaxially' with hinge leaves 30 formed uponf one edge of an approxiinately square, swingable base plate 3 2. A hinge pin extends through the hinge leavesf28, 30, and thus the base plate 32 is swingable about a horizontal axis during the erection of the television tower,

ing the tower, the base plate 32 can be swung upwardly to a vertical position, and since the' body of the tower is supported upon the base plate 32,thef several sections of the tower' will, at thisstage of the operation, extend j horizon fi ie' he q jd, u a e, Th re'afi t "workm en assigned to the tas'l i creating the tower, only two of whom are required, need simply swing the tower to an upright position, the hinged base plate 32 now swinging into a position against the block 22, in a plane common to that of the base plate 20. I

A plurality of upstanding, threaded studs 34 are embedded in the block 22, said studs being extendable through corner openings provided in the base plate 32, and receiving nuts 36 whereby the base plate 32 can be fixedly anchored to the concrete block after being swung to said horizontal position thereof.

Welded or otherwise rigidly connected to the center portion of the base plate 32 is a plurality of upstanding, triangularly spaced standards 38, said standards being readily formed from tubular stock cut to a selected length. The standards 38 comprise the standards of the bottom section 12, and the fixed connection of the lower ends of the standards to the base plate 32 is reinforced by gussets 40 or the like.

At intervals spaced longitudinally of the standards 38,

I provide horizontally disposed cross braces 42, each cross brace being welded or otherwise fixedly connected at its opposite ends to a pair of adjacent standards 38, and being disposed in a triangular arrangement when viewed in top plan (Figure 3). I

To further rigidity the connection of the standards 38 to the base plate 32, I provide a pair of inclined brace members 44, rigid at their lower ends with the base plate 32, and rigidly secured at their upper ends to the intermediate portion of one of the standards 38. Other in clined brace members 46 are also rigidly secured to the brace plate 32, and are fixedly connected, at their upper ends, to the intermediate portions of the other standards 38.

The intermediate section 14 telescopes for the full length thereof within the bottom section 12, and com prises triangularly spaced, parallel standards 48 extending into the inner space of the bottom section 12 defined by the cross braces 42 of said bottom section. The standards 48 of the intermediate tower section 14 are rigidly connected, at locations spaced longitudinally thereof, by tubular cross braces 50 (Figure 4).

The top section 16 telescopes Within the intermediate section 14, being formed to a cross sectional area smaller than that of the intermediate section, said top sectionincluding triangularly spaced, tubular, parallel standards 52 rigidly braced in spaced relation by a series of cross braces 54, spaced longitudinally of said standards 52.

At their upper ends, the parallel standards 52 are inte gral with elongated, converging, upper end portions 56. Reference should now be had to Figure 6, wherein there is shown to its best advantage a triangular brace plate 53,

having corner recesses adapted to receive the upper ends of the standards 52, at that location upon the standards 52 Where said standards merge into the upwardly con verging portions 56. The brace plate 53 is fixedly secured, at its several corners, to the standards 52, and is provided with a center opening 69 in which is fixedly mounted the lower end portion of a tubular socket 622. The upper end portion of the socket 62 is made rigid with the convergent ends of the portions 56, so as to brace the socket 62 in a vertical position.

The socket 62 is formed open at its upper end, to receive the television antenna 18. For the purpose of anchoring the antenna within the socket, the socket can be provided with longitudinally spaced openings, and nuts 64 can be welded or otherwise made rigid with the socket, where said openings are located, to receive bolts or the like, not shown, that will bind the base of the antenna 18 within the socket. The antenna, it should be noted, can be installed in its associated socket 62 before a 4 1 scoped. To this end, winch support plates 66 are rigidly fastened to the intermediate portions of the inclined brace members 44 of the bottom section 12, and journaled between the plates 66 is a winch 68, which can be either hand or power operated, the drum of said winch having coiled thereupon cables 70, 72, respectively.

Referring to Figure 10, the cable 70 is extended upwardly along the bottom section 12, and is trained about a pulley 74 mounted upon the upper end of said bottom section 12. Thereafter, the cable 70 is extended downwardlyto the lower end of the intermediate section 14, and is secured to said lower end of the intermediate Section. 7 V

The cable 72 is trained about a pulley 76 mounted upon the upper end of the intermediate section, and is secured, at its end, to the bottom end of the top section 16.

By reason of this arrangement, when the which 68 is operated, the intermediate and top sections will be extended from their normally telescoped position, and it will be understood that they can be extended to any extent desired, depending upon the overall height to which the tower is to be erected. The extension of the several sections is accomplished, in this regard, after the television tower has been swung to an upright position.

Reference should now be had to Figures 7 through 9, wherein I have illustrated the means which I employ for bolting the extended sections together, at the completion of the installation operation. Considering, for example, the manner in which the intermediate section 14 is bolted to the bottom section 12, in a selected position to which said intermediate section is raised relative to the bottom section, a support plate of generallytriangular outer c onfiguration is utilized. The support plate 78, along at'least two of its sides, has integrally fo'rmedthereupon laterally extended flanges 80 adapted to overlie selected cross braces 42 of the bottom section, said flanges 80 having, along their outer edges, depending lips '82 extending downwardly over the outer surfaces of thecross braces.

Adjacent the flanges 80, I provide upwardly extending flanges 84 on the support plate 78, the flanges 84 extending upwardly over the outer surfaces of the selectedcr'oss braces '50 of the intermediate section, with said selected cross braces being supported upon the plate 78. I

It will be seen that on relating the support plate 78 to the bottom and intermediate sections in this manner, the intermediate section will be supported by the bottom section in a selected position of extensible adjustment, and to securely retainrthe support plate 78 in its proper position, I utilize J-bolts 86, embracing the cross braces of the'intermediate section, and extending through openings 88 of the upstanding flanges 84. Nuts 90 are threadable upon the shankportions of the bolts. 86, against the outer surfaces of the flanges 84, to rigidity the connection.

It will be appreciated that a television tower formed as illustrated and described can be readily installed, in a minimum of time, since the antenna can be mounted has been hereinbefore provided.

upon the tower before the tower is swung to its upright position. In this connection, it is even possible to extend the several sections while the tower is disposed horizontally, and bolt the several support plates in place, thus to eliminate the necessity of ladders being placed against the erected tower, or the necessity of having a workman climb the tower. In any event,'whether the sections are extended before or after movement of the tower to an upright position, the entire operation can be carried out with ease, as will be obvious from the description which Should repairs be needed after erection of the tower,

or should it be desired to exchange oradjust the antenna,

it is merely necessary that thenuts 36 be backed-oifthe studs 34, after which the entire tower can be swung to a horizontal position so that said'repairs or antenna substitution can be efiected. This is considered to'be an 'important characteristic of the invention, since it: permits the changes or repairs to be made with little expense and in a minimum of time.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not neces sarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A vertically extensible television antenna tower comprising at least one pair of nested, telescopically related sections each formed as a rigid framework including a plurality of vertical members and groups of horizontal brace members interconnecting the vertical members, the groups of each section being spaced longitudinally of the vertical members of the same section, the brace members of each group lying in a common horizontal plane with each brace member of a group extending angularly to each of the other brace members of the same group; and means to hold the sections against telescoping from their relatively extended positions, including a plate lying in a horizontal plane and having its edges related angularly to one another correspondingly to the relative angulation of the brace members of each group, one group of one section, in the extended positions of the sections, lying in a horizontal plane above that of an adjacent group of the other section, the horizontal plane of said plate occurring between the planes of said one group and said adjacent group, depending lips on a plurality of the edges of said plate related angularly to one another correspondingly to the relative angulation of the plate edges on which they are formed, said lips engaging the adjacent brace members of said adjacent group, upwardly extending flanges on a plurality of the edges of said plate related angularly to one another correspondingly to the angulation of the plate edges on which they are formed, and engaging the adjacent brace members of said one group, said flanges having openings formed therein, J- shaped bolts extending through said openings and having depending, arcuate portions at one end engaging the brace members of said one group, and nuts threaded upon said bolts against said upwardly extending flanges for binding said portions tightly against the brace members engaged thereby.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Munsinger Sept. 30, 1952 

